Members of Parliament are talking about the potential of lifting the House of Commons' vaccine mandate, after the federal government announced its COVID-19 vaccination requirements for the public service and for domestic and outbound Canadian travellers will end next week.
According to Government House Leader Mark Holland, on Tuesday the House leaders from each party met to discuss the idea, and now the topic is being discussed within each caucus.
"We had a productive conversation yesterday," Holland told reporters on Parliament Hill on Wednesday. "We're going to be having further conversations and it's my hope, certainly in the next couple of days, that we'll be able to finalize what we're going to be doing with the precinct."
A vaccine mandate requiring anyone entering the House of Commons precinct -- including MPs -- to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has been in place since the first day of the 44th Parliament in November 2021.
The decision to impose the mandate was made by the Board of Internal Economy-- the cross-party committee of MPs that oversees the workings of the House of Commons-- at a time when considerable attention was put on the vaccination status of MPs.
While the House of Commons' Speaker later found the board overstepped in imposing the mandate, the policy was upheld through a motion backed by the Liberals and NDP.
The Liberals, New Democrats, and Bloc Quebecois have said that all their MPs are fully vaccinated, and while many Conservatives have confirmed their vaccination status, the party has not disclosed how many of its MPs remain unvaccinated.
The policy does include a limited exemption, allowing individuals who have verified 鈥渕edical contraindication鈥� to COVID-19 vaccines to provide proof of a recent negative rapid antigen test to be able to enter the buildings that are part of the House precinct.
On June 3, Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall, who has refused to disclose her vaccination status, said she was escorted off of Parliament Hill in connection with the House vaccination policy.
It's possible that in addition to a decision on the future of the vaccine mandate for the House of Commons-- the Senate has its own-- there could be an update soon on the future of the hybrid Parliament provisions, given they are set to expire at the end of the spring sitting on June 23.
The current rules allow MPs to participate in House debates and committee meetings, virtually. The House has also set up a remote-voting application that lets MPs vote virtually from anywhere in Canada.
The Conservatives have been pushing for an end to the House vaccine mandate, as well as the hybrid Commons' proceedings that MPs have been abiding by for the better part of the pandemic.
In a statement in late May proposing a way to walk away from the hybrid sitting structure, Conservative House Leader John Brassard said given the current public health situation and the impact the virtual structure has had on translators, it's time to stop letting MPs Zoom into work.
鈥淲e should never have arrived in a place where some elected members of Parliament are prohibited from stepping foot in the House, while some Liberal members refuse to come to the capital at all," Brassard said. "Canadians elect their representatives to serve them in Ottawa, not to hide behind a computer screen or a voting app. Canadians are going back to work in person. It is time for Members of Parliament to do the same."
On Tuesday, when the announcement was made that the other federal mandates were on their way out, Holland said the Liberals鈥� position has been that they'd change their COVID-19 restrictions as the public health situation evolved.
